I know the feeling Doug :(
What would be nice is if (although I know its not something bit normally does) you could perhaps do a mass card round up with similar systems to show those of us that are on older systems just how much of a performance boost newer low end cards have over our older high end cards :)

Originally Posted by BioSniperI know the feeling Doug :(
What would be nice is if (although I know its not something bit normally does) you could perhaps do a mass card round up with similar systems to show those of us that are on older systems just how much of a performance boost newer low end cards have over our older high end cards :)

Great idea.

It's alright saying the X1950 gives an average of 59fps at 1280 x 1024 with 8xAA, but as an owner of an X800 who plays the same game at 1024 x 768 with 4xAA how do I know the value/performance of the X1950 as an upgrade?

Can anyone say where my X800 would fall in terms of performance? is the X19?? range literally twice as powerful?

thx,

I would say that Radeon X800 is about half the speed of Radeon X1900XT in graphics-limited titles. You're going to see bigger differences than that above 1600x1200, because I believe that Z-buffer was tuned for 1600x1200 in the X800 era, as 24" widescreen displays hadn't really taken off back then. :)

X1950 Pro will play just about every game out there at the moment at 1280x1024 with at least 2xAA, high details and incredibly smooth frame rates. The one exception is probably Oblivion, but that's a pretty hardcore title.

Originally Posted by Tim SI would say that Radeon X800 is about half the speed of Radeon X1900XT in graphics-limited titles. You're going to see bigger differences than that above 1600x1200, because I believe that Z-buffer was tuned for 1600x1200 in the X800 era, as 24" widescreen displays hadn't really taken off back then. :)

Thanks for that Tim.

The question though, is it worth holding on for a DirectX10 card?

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X1950 Pro will play just about every game out there at the moment at 1280x1024 with at least 2xAA, high details and incredibly smooth frame rates. The one exception is probably Oblivion, but that's a pretty hardcore title.

Another review of what looks like a very promising card. Shame the 1950 Pro's seem to be hitting shelves around the same time as the next gen cards are getting shown off/released. I'm curious if this is ATI's card to sell people who can't or won't buy R600/G80, or whether it's them hoping to get a few bucks outta the old tech before shipping the new stuff out and seeing prices on old stuff freefall.

Is Crysis the only known confirmed game that will take advantage of DX10?

I'm I right in thinking Alan Wake and Half-Life:Episode 2 might also be?

It would be silly to buy a first generation DX10 card if there is only a couple of games actually using it, oh...does this mean I don't belong on bit-tech anymore? :D

I can't speak for Alan Wake, but I'll bet HL2E2 will still be on the Source engine since re-writing it for DX10 would be a major pain in the arse. I don't think you'll see DX10 in HL until HL3 when they release a new engine.

Originally Posted by CthippoI can't speak for Alan Wake, but I'll bet HL2E2 will still be on the Source engine since re-writing it for DX10 would be a major pain in the arse. I don't think you'll see DX10 in HL until HL3 when they release a new engine.

Alan Wake looks like a late '07 release. I'm not sure on specifics for Valve and DX10, but we're going to attempt to find out in the next couple of days. ;)

It's alright saying the X1950 gives an average of 59fps at 1280 x 1024 with 8xAA, but as an owner of an X800 who plays the same game at 1024 x 768 with 4xAA how do I know the value/performance of the X1950 as an upgrade?

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Originally Posted by Tim Syeah, I wouldn't spend much more than £150-160 on a stop gap though. :)

I wouldn't either, and I would wait at least two weeks. With luck, the G80 launch will push the prices of 7900s down. A 7900-7950GT, at that price would be a very nice upgrade over rupbert's x800.

On the other hand, if prices of 7900 do come down, I'd even think carefully of getting a 7900GTX. DX10 games are nowhere near (save perhaps, Crysis...and I have yet to see how much "DX10" is in there) and if rupbert's display is 1280 or 1024, a 7900GTX will chew through anything available for another 12-18 months at least.

Originally Posted by IagoI wouldn't either, and I would wait at least two weeks. With luck, the G80 launch will push the prices of 7900s down. A 7900-7950GT, at that price would be a very nice upgrade over rupbert's x800.

On the other hand, if prices of 7900 do come down, I'd even think carefully of getting a 7900GTX. DX10 games are nowhere near (save perhaps, Crysis...and I have yet to see how much "DX10" is in there) and if rupbert's display is 1280 or 1024, a 7900GTX will chew through anything available for another 12-18 months at least.

As you say a £150 7900GT would be a very nice card for the price. I assumed that the GTX version would maybe only offer a 5-10% increase in performance , for a relatively high price hike?

I think I will switch to a widescreen display when more games take advantage of them (without having to hack them).

Originally Posted by rupbertAs you say a £150 7900GT would be a very nice card for the price. I assumed that the GTX version would maybe only offer a 5-10% increase in performance , for a relatively high price hike?

I think I will switch to a widescreen display when more games take advantage of them (without having to hack them).

I don't know the exact numbers, but the GTX is noticeably faster and (even as important for me), much more silent. The GTs have whinny little LOUD fans. IIRC, the 7900 series fans, wouldn't even slow down when the card is in 2D mode. If you are going widescreen and intend to keep the card for some time (say, those 12-18 months I speak of) and once the 7900 come down in price, I'd certainly go for the GTX.

Alternatively, the x1900 series, IF you change the cooler (which is simply unbearable if you are half-sensible to noise), are absolutely great for widescreen gaming and are dropping in price very fast. I have a x1900XT (the first model, with 512Mb) with an Accelero X2 cooler and it chews through anything I throw at it at 1680x1050 (Dell 20' Widescreen). I can even play Oblivion with HDR+AA comfortably. And I don't know why, but people don't seem to want them...I went to a spanish hardware forum to see how much could I get for mine (with upgrading to a G80 in mind), and nobody offered more than 230 (153 GBP)... when G80 arrives they are going to be dead cheap.

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